July 18

1927—Ty Cobb of the Philadelphia Athletics doubles off the glove of Harry Heilmann for his 4,000th hit.

1951—Jersey Joe Walcott, at 37, becomes the oldest fighter to win the world heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout of Ezzard Charles at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

1970—San Francisco’s Willie Mays gets career hit number 3,000 off Montreal’s Mike Wegener in the second inning.

1996—Shaquille O’Neal signs a seven-year, $121 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers’ ticket price for the cheapest seats is increased from $9.50 to $21.

1999—Jean Van de Velde’s triple bogey on the 72nd hole sets the stage for Paul Lawrie to become the first Scotsman to win the British Open in his native land since Tommy Armour in 1931. Lawrie, 10 strokes behind when the final round began, wins the four-hole playoff over Van de Velde and Justin Leonard, making birdies on the last two holes to complete the biggest comeback in a major.

1999—David Cone dazzles the Montreal Expos, throwing the 14th perfect game in modern history to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-0 victory.

2005—In Oklahoma City, the United States softball team loses a tournament title game for the first time since 1997, falling 3-1 to Japan in the championship of the inaugural World Cup of Softball. The Americans, winners of the gold medal at three straight Olympics, suffer their first loss since the title game of the 1997 Superball in Ohio, 1-0 to Australia.